Castle's Heart
by ScarlettSlipper
Summary: A secret resides behind a thousand year old Scottish castle's walls. Finally updated with Chapter 5!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own them, never will. Hasbro/Devil's Due do. Don't want lawsuits, only laughs.

This was collecting dust, so decided to post it. I hope you enjoy! please comment.

Thank you AmyKay for Beta reading!

Scarlett Slipper

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The old Scottish castle stood upon the large hill, ivy vines covering most of the structure. Nothing had changed for over a thousand years, from its stone walls, to the large wooden door that was always closed, to its emptiness. None had lived in the old stone castle for centuries. It was said that the castle held a haunted curse, or that is what the natives believed. For anyone who stepped within the rooms of the old stone walls, only death would follow. And because of this curse, no living man or beast had stepped in Castle McDarth. Many villagers claimed that things happened inside the castle- Druids journeyed to the old manor once every decade to recite a calming spell for the trapped spirits. While others believed that the Banshee, the guardian of the family's crest, guarded the castle with her wrath, and if anyone dared to walk inside the stone walls, death would greet them. Others believed that the curse was nothing but a story, so that the village and the castle will be legendary. But it was old Ian McTavish, the only living descendant, who lived in a small cottage on the castle's land, was seen running down the hills one eerie evening, screaming of snake men that caught everyone's attention.

The next evening, five silhouettes moved steadily across the dark hills, nearing the castle walls. The cold air surrounded their warm bodies, creating small white puffs from their breaths. They halted for a mere moment, studied their surroundings and then continued on. The pale moon light guided their path across the heavy brush that had overgrown from the long years of neglect. Swiftly, they crossed the stone bridge that connected the old unkempt gardens and the castle itself. A hand rose in the air, signaling to the others to separate. Three of them darted towards the left, while the other two ventured to the right.

From the south tower, a long straight object flew into the air and plunged into the solid stone wall. A rope dangled from the wooden weapon. At the same instant, a small arrow swiftly shot straight up from the bottom of the north tower and wrapped a second rope around a massive stone gargoyle. Two strong hands gripped the first rope and tugged several times before starting to climb the cold stone.

"We're going to climb _that?"_ whispered a voice, indicating upwards at the tall tower.

"Would you like to go and knock on the door and just introduce ourselves?" came the answer.

"You know how I feel about heights!" replied the whisper, more annoyed.

"Will you two be quiet! We are going to be caught," came from behind them.

A large "Yaghh" came from the north tower making the trio stop and look. A silhouette hung in the air, upside down, swaying side by side and banging against the stone wall.

"Forget about you two announcing our presence, _he_ is doing a much better job!"

They heard the swaying figure call for help towards the fifth member of the group who had already climbed on the north tower's roof, waving two hands in the air, indicating that the member was not pleased.

"Alright, Lady Jaye, you go first, Alpine you next, and then me," came the command

Lady Jaye titled her head upwards once more at the towering wall, "Why does it have to be lady's first?" She asked while gripping the rope tightly with her hands. She started to hoist herself on the wall, climbing slowly upwards and thinking to herself not to look down.

"Flint? Any idea why those snakes are here?"

"My guess is good as yours, Alpine. But from what the locals have told us, for a fortnight now, there has been some weird sounds coming from inside McDarth castle. Usually, they hear the unsettled spirits, but this noise is far different," answered Flint

"Oh great!" Lady Jaye's voice came from above their heads, "All I need tonight, Cobra and Ghosts!"

Alpine shook his head, "Don't worry Lady Jaye," he whispered towards the climbing figure. "I'll be there to protect you."

"Oh yeah? And who's going to protect _you_?" she called down towards him.

"From what? Cobra? The Ghost? Or the look that Flint is giving me right now?"

"Alright you two!" The second in command hissed, "Lets cut the chatter and get in there." He looked back towards the right, seeing that the other two members of their small unit had successfully climbed the northern part of the castle and were slowly closing in on one of the large open windows.

The rope became loose once more, insinuating that Lady Jaye had climbed to the top without any sign of Cobra. Flint held on to the rope and began to climb upwards, his feet molding onto the stone wall and using the ivy vines as stepping stones. In a short moment, his body crawled over the wall, and on to the slightly slanted roof.

"Glad to see you made it in one piece, Flint." Lady Jaye gave him a smile before punching him in the arm, "Don't _ever_ let me do that again!"

"Fine by me, next time I won't let you climb a haunted castle wall. Duke will have the honors." He pivoted away from her second attack. "Can you leave some fighting for the snakes?"

"Oh, I have plenty of that, especially now," She replied with narrowed eyes.

"I should had gone with the other two," came Alpine's voice from behind the rope. "With you two talking, we're going to wind up getting caught, and thrown in the dungeon with the dead bodies."

"Dead bodies!" they said simultaneously.

Alpine gave them a mocking look. "Oh, come on! Every dark creepy haunted castle has skeletons in the dungeon or up in the towers. This one may have one hundred at least, if we are lucky, maybe two!"

"Well, I'm not seeing any skeletons tonight!" stated Lady Jaye as she began to move towards an opening which lead to a stone staircase. "This Rapunzel isn't sticking long enough to make new 'friends'."

"Rapunzel?" asked a confused Alpine.

Lady Jaye turned to him, "Oh, come on!" mimicking his own words. "Rapunzel, Tower, Fairy Tale? Ring a bell?"

"Yeah, only you don't have long hair." Flint had stopped short ahead of them, "The staircase is getting darker, I cannot see anything in front of me."

"Allow a Lady to use some magic!" Lady Jaye took one of her javelins out and with a short click, a flame shot up from the wooden pole. "And you have light," She said, handing the javelin torch to Flint.

They walked down the circular stone case in silence. There was no sign or indication of a Cobra Viper or any other members of the terrorist group. When they reached the first landing of the castle, they paused for any sound or evidence of the enemy, and finding none, they continued on. A small thud echoed straight ahead of them, making all three of the G.I. Joe members to hesitate moving forwards.

"What was _that_?" asked Alpine from behind Lady Jaye.

"Hope it's not a walking skeleton?" she joked.

"Funny!" mumbled Alpine. "But if it is, I'll be running faster than Cobra out of here."

Lady Jaye turned around and gave him an amused look, "Maybe your yodeling can scare it away."

"Cut it out you two." Flint growled, "Let's look into this."

"I was afraid he was going to say that." Alpine whimpered, as Lady Jaye nodded in agreement.

Taking a few short steps, the trio walked into a large room. Flint raised the torch searching the space for any sign of movement. Finding none, his eyes roamed over the covered furniture and cobweb walls. The room appeared as it was never used for centuries, mountains of dust covered the floor. He lowered the flame towards the ground, hoping to spot any footprints but found no trace of any.

"Looks like this is a dead end." He said to the others. "Time to check with Team B." Flipping his link comm. on. "This is Team A, calling Team B. Come in."

Static came from the small device, and then silence. Flint glanced at the other team members, slightly worried. "Team A to Team B, acknowledge." He hoped there would be a response from his other teammates.

Alpine walked towards the large stone fireplace, studying it for any recent use, but found only more dust upon the large cauldron.

Flint's link comm. still had no response from the other group. "I think we should--" His words were interrupted by a large crashing metallic sound coming from the wrist link. "What on Earth was _that_?" asking the question into the unknown.

"_That _Flint, was a soon to be on a lengthy KP Duty Shipwreck, crashing into a suit of armor!" came a voice from the other end.

Flint and Lady Jaye glanced at each other, and at the same moment Alpine sneezed from the dust that had gotten into his nose. They heard several attempts of metal being picked up, followed by the sounds of it crashing back to the ground with a loud _clunk_!

"Shipwreck!" Hissed the angry voice again, "Will you stop picking up the pieces! You are making enough noise to bring every Cobra agent down here!"

A short static echoed from the link, then they heard the sailor from the background, "But Scarlett! It wasn't my fault! He crashed into me!"

Lady Jaye could hear the red haired counterintelligence agent groan from the other end, "You've been watching too many Scooby Doo episodes lately! Armor doesn't walk on its own!"

"Well, this one did!" Shipwreck replied. "And for your information, I don't watch a lot of Scooby Doo. I watched a lot of Voltron! I think that Princess chick is hot!" More sounds came from the background. Shipwreck's voice sounded once more, but with a different tone. "Now...now...Scarlett, put that nice crossbow down!"

"Will you be quiet!" They heard Scarlett hiss at him. "Flint, I hear someone coming."

Flint's eyes widened. "Quick, both of you hide." He listened as scuffing sounds and then running footsteps, indicating that they were trying to find a good location to hide. "Oww, you stepped on my toe." and "Hush!" could be heard. Minutes seemed like hours, as the three friends waited for what could possibly happen if the others were uncovered.

"Coast is clear." came Scarlett's voice once again over the link. "Flint, you better get down here. ASAP."

"What did you find?" He asked through the wrist link.

"Ten Vipers just passed us holding shovels."

"Shovels?" asked Lady Jaye, "What's Cobra searching for?"

"I don't have that answer yet, Lady Jaye." Scarlett replied, then her tone changed once more, "Shipwreck! Leave that stone statue alone!" Another crashing sound was echoed from the other end.

"Scarlett," Flint said into the comp link. "What's your location?"

More static sounded from the small device before Scarlett's voice was once again heard, "We're in what it seems a large weapon chamber. It's located just below the ground floor." Her next words made both Lady Jaye and Alpine's spines shiver, "near the dungeons."

"Stay there, we're on our way." Flint commanded.

Then a clanking sound came from her background. "Stay away from the swords!" They heard her warning, but it was far too late as a massive vibrating clashing crash echoed within their ears. "SHIP-" The transmission suddenly stopped.

Flint looked at Lady Jaye and Alpine, "We better get down there quick, before a new skeleton resides in this old place.

Alpine nodded, "Yes, Skeleton Delgado." He then followed his teammates out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Scarlett's eyes blazed red, while watching the clumsy sailor look downwards towards the metal pile. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm herself down. His immaturity just cost them their position. Why on earth did Duke allow him on the mission? Shaking her head, she knew that they must find cover before any more Vipers returned.

"I heard it come from in there." A voice became heard just outside the doorway.

Her eyes shot open. 'Vipers!' her mind screamed. Looking around her, she noticed that hiding places were slim. They were caught! Her eyes skimmed once more around the large room, finally stopping at two standing suits of armor.

"Shipwreck!" Her voice was low, "Get behind the armor suits, now!" Wasting no time, both of them darted around the armor, just as the same moment two Cobra Vipers entered the weapons room. Scarlett readied her crossbow for an attack, watching from the corner of her eye, Shipwreck searching for his small revolver, but came up empty. He sent her an apologetic look. 'He must had lost it somewhere, typical!' She thought to herself.

"What happened in here?" One of the Vipers began to look around. "I was positive that when we passed this room, everything was upright."

"Maybe _she_ did it," answered the second, his voice trembling. "I say, forget the mission, and lets get out of here!"

"There's no such thing as ghosts!" came the annoyed reply.

"I...I...hope not. I just want to find that thing Destro wants and get the heck out of here."

"You know we've been searching for weeks now. I think that Chrome Dome had lost his marbles, sending us here." The sound of metal echoed in the room. "There's someone in here."

From behind the armor, Scarlett could hear them scuffle around the fallen armor and weapons.

"Hmm, this weapon doesn't look sixteenth century to me, more like G.I. JOE."

Scarlett's eyes widened, they had found Shipwreck's gun! She saw him gulp before giving her a remorseful smile. Another sound indicated that the Vipers had begun to search the room.

"They're somewhere in here. Search" came the order.

She raised her crossbow, ready do strike when the two Cobra soldiers neared their hiding spot. Her eyes narrowed, ready for the opportunity to attack the Vipers. She could hear the footsteps closing in, waiting not a moment longer, she gritted her teeth, her finger set to pull the trigger.

"Ooooooooo…." came from her left. Scarlett glanced at Shipwreck, giving him a deadly look. 'What is he doing?' She thought to herself. He had just given their hiding spot away! When this was over, she was going to kill him and then kill Duke for pairing them up together for this mission.

The Vipers stopped moving. "What…what was that?" one of them asked the other.

"It was prop--" But the second Viper's words were cut off from Shipwreck's second ghostly imitation.

"Oooooouuuuuuuuuut!!" Shipwreck howled towards the Vipers.

Scarlett gaped while watching the sailor take hold of the armor's arm, which held a spike ball, and begin to raise it up and down. There was no way the Vipers would had fallen for this trick! She closed her eyes, waiting for the cold metal of the gun on her forehead.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUT!!" Shipwreck louder wailed.

She glanced back at the sailor, "Help me," he mouthed to her. Nodding, she gently twisted her body, so she could easily maneuver her armor's arms. Giving a sigh of defeat, she began her own ghostly vocal sounds and began to move the arms up and down. At least, if they die, they would die scaring a few Vipers.

Shipwreck smiled towards her, then turned and let out this blood chilling scream and pushed the armor's head to fall off and roll towards the Vipers. "Keep going!" he mouthed to her

"Let's get out of here!" they heard one of them scramble out the door. They heard metal crash against each other as the two Vipers tried to escape their demise.

"OOOOOUUUUTTT!" They both wailed, moving the both of the arms of the armor, faster up and down.

Then Shipwreck rolled back his head, sending out a most terrifying cackle that even made Scarlett's spine shiver.

"What the devil?" came a familiar voice.

Flint!

"Shipwreck, stop!" Scarlett ordered the sailor, who looked like he was having way too much 'fun' impersonating a ghost.

"Scarlett? Shipwreck? Are you in here?" Lady Jaye call out.

Scarlett let out a sigh of relief. "Right here, Jaye." emerging from their hiding spot.

Alpine gave them an amused look. "Playing Casper?" But immediately gulped from the redhead's death glare.

Wasting no time, Scarlett dashed towards the door. "Cobra is definitely searching for something. Destro sent a group of Vipers here on a mission."

Flint followed her lead. "Did you hear anything about what the snakes are looking for?" signaling to the others to follow them.

She shook her head. "Nothing."

The rejoined team treaded deeper into the castle, towards the unknown. Flint lead the group down a stone hallway with only an eerie silence surrounding them.

"It's getting darker in here." whispered Shipwreck.

"Quiet." Flint turned, the torch glowed over the sailor's face. "Not another sound, got it?" Shipwreck gulped and nodded towards Flint's serious face. They continued on.

Without any warning, ten Vipers with shovels in hand and flashlights came scrambling from down the hallway towards the Joes.

"Gang way!" They bellowed towards the Joes, pushing them away and running at the other direction at top speed. "Run for your lives!"

"What in the world?" asked a perplexed Lady Jaye. "What got into them?"

Alpine looked back towards the disappearing silhouettes of the enemy, "You mean, what did _not _get to them."

Suddenly a piercing scream echoed within the stone walls of the castle. The five members of the team listened to the wailing cry, speechless.

"OK, anyone care to explain _that?'_ asked Shipwreck.

Scarlett glanced towards the sailor. "It's just the wind."

"Red? Since when does the wind go AHHHEEEIIII?" Alpine mimicked the scream. "I think I'm going to follow our snake friends." He started to walk back from the direction they had come, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"We have to check this out." Flint stated, turning around and continued to walk down the hallway.

Defeated, Alpine slowly nodded and began to follow the group from the direction the Cobras had come. He steadily followed the others, ready to give backup from what they will encounter.

"Shoot." Alpine mumbled.

Lady Jaye glanced back at him. "Huh?"

"I forgot one thing to do before we left the base."

"Oh, and what is that?" she asked him curiously.

"To write my will."

Suddenly, two hands grabbed him from his shoulders and a wailing cry came near his ears. "Yiiiaaah!!!" Alpine bellowed at the top of his lungs. His heart pounded profusely, while he tightly held on to his weapon.

The sound of laughter echoed around the hall. "Ohh...Oh... That was priceless! You should had seen your face, it looked something like this." Shipwreck imitated the mountain climber's petrified features.

Alpine snarled, "SHIPWRECK! I'm going to kill you!"

"Get in line," came from Scarlett.

Flint suddenly stopped short. "Looks like Cobra has been busy." They had entered a large area of the castle. The roomy space had large amounts of dirt piles, indicating that someone had done some major digging. Several shovels lay awkwardly on the floor or abandoned in some hole, probably from Cobra's hastily departure.

"Search around, maybe we can find out why Cobra is so interested in this old castle. We need to separate. Scarlett, take Shipwreck with you, Alpine, go with Lady Jaye" He could almost hear Alpine scream _yes!_ in his mind. "I'll look around here."

Shipwreck winked at him. "Sure Flint, but I just hope we don't find Dracula sleeping in his casket." he joked.

"_If_ we find Dracula, I'll be sure to lock you in there with him!" Scarlett said, grabbing Shipwreck by the arm and leading him towards the far end of the room.

A soft moan echoed from the hallway. Alpine gulped. "Please tell me that's the wind."

"Only one way to find out." Lady Jaye began to walk back towards the long dark hallway. "Are you coming or not?" she called behind her. "Didn't you say that you will protect me?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming. But remind me after this is over, not to state those words again." He followed her back towards the hallway. "It's too dark here, got any more of those javelin torches?" he asked her. "That small flashlight you're holding is not helping."

"No," came from somewhere to his left. "I gave Flint the only one I had. But these old Scottish castles do have torches on the walls, help me search for one."

Alpine's hands felt against the cold stone of the castle. 'Their heating bill must had been huge!' he thought to himself. At least his hands came on something long, "Jaye! I found one!" he pulled the torch off its iron holder. A rumbling sound came from his left. "What was that?" he asked the counter intelligence agent. But only silence answered him.

"Lady Jaye?" he called out again. Nothing. She had vanished!


	3. Chapter 3

"Alpine?" Lady Jaye called out, closely to the wall. "Alpine? Can you hear me?"

Nothing. Alpine probably went to get help, she thought.' Or he ran out of the castle faster than the Cobras did only moments ago.

She roamed her small flashlight around the small space. "Where am I?" she questioned herself. The thin light roamed the walls, cobwebs dominated the small area. She lifted the light towards the ceiling, more cobwebs. There was no door leading out, and no other indications of an exit! She was trapped.

"This is just dandy," Lady Jaye mumbled to herself. "There has to be another way to get out of here." She took two steps forward. "Oof." She exhaled, her hip bumping into something solid. A small clatter came from the ground and lowered the thin beam of light, trying to identify the sound. The beam landed on a small round object. A green stone.

Lady Jaye bent over to pick up the small stone. Its surface was smooth, and its color greener than any emerald she had ever seen. Something triggered in her mind. But she could not recall what. Was there something special about this green stone? Her mind filled with the many myths, legends and folktales of Ireland and Scotland, but none mentioned this particular green stone. Looking at the stone once more before she gently put it down back on the cold floor.

A sound came from her right, making her turn slowly towards it. Her eyes widened, watching an unexplained phenomenon floating only a few feet from her. She blinked twice and found the mysterious white image had vanished. "Properly my imagination running wild." she said to herself. "Or, Cobra is using one of their hologram machines."

Moving towards the wall, she began to tap on the hard cold surface, trying to find a way out. There had to be some kind of lever, or secret brick stone which opened the hidden door. If she had gotten in, she could get out, she hoped. Her fingers traced the moldy stone wall, roaming around, trying to find anything.

"Alpine? Can you hear me?" She called out once more, hoping the Joe could hear, but knew it would be impossible from the thick stone wall between them.

Suddenly, her hand felt a small wooden object. Raising the beam of light on the wall, she immediately identified the object as an torch holder. Her hand slowly rose to the holder, and gently pushed downwards. Nothing.

Lady Jaye exhaled in aggravation and cursed in Gaelic under her tongue. Taking a few steps towards her right, her foot stumbled from a rock on the floor, causing her to loose her balance, falling against the wall, with her hands reaching forward, and touching a very moldy brick stone.

A rumbling sound perked her ears, and felt her hands begin to tremble. The wall itself began to move and a small passageway became revealed. Her heart jumped to her throat, and her eyes squinted in the darkness of the cobwebbed tunnel.

"Either it's a way out or a trap." Lady Jaye said outloud. Taking a few brave steps, the covert ops agent entered the dark passageway to the unknown. The thin light guided the way, creating dark haunted shadows dancing on the walls. A shiver went down her spine and she quickly shook it off.

A few feet into the passage way, the tunnel ended abruptly. A wooden door stood before her, initiating that there was no other choice. With a deep breath, she pushed it open and found herself in a large bedchamber.

The room itself indicated that it had never been touched for centuries, from the dominated dust and cobwebs. The thick dust which covered stone floor, indicated that no person had entered the bedchamber recently, not even Cobra Vipers.

She held the small flashlight tightly in her hand, roaming the light once again. A large four poster bed filled most of the room, its green curtains still tied on each post. A white long satin nightgown lay on the bed, still awaiting its owner.

The G. I. Joe member turned, facing a wall, and the light once again roamed, helping her see the room in a brighter detail. It skimmed on a painting of a woman which hung on the wall. The woman wore an emerald ankle length dress, with brightly red hair that even could surpass Scarlett's red locks. Lady Jaye stepped closer, but an eerie scream echoing through the walls, caused every single hair on the back of her neck rise straight up.

_Bump! _The unexpected sound made her pivot towards the doorway. Someone was in the tunnel! Her heart began to race, pounding vigorously in her chest. She began making her way back through the wooden door, down the dark tunnel and once again found herself in the empty room. Seconds emerging from the hidden passageway, the stone wall shut itself, trapping her in the same room once again.

"Oh, this is really dandy now! I'm back where I started!"

A rumble came from behind her, and the wall began to slide open. Her eyes widened, and her mouth went dry. Was this the way out? Or another trap? From the opening, a brown leather glove came through, holding a long torch. Her javelin!

"Flint!" she called out towards the man.

Flint entered the room, followed by Alpine. "Lady Jaye!" he cried out, walking up to embrace her tightly. "I'm so glad you're not hurt."

"So am I." Alpine said, "Flint vowed that if anything happened to you, I will be serving Hotdogs in the cafeteria for life."

Lady Jaye smiled at the mountain climber. "Well, I am perfectly fine as you both can see, and Alpine, I'm glad you won't be serving any of your Hotdogs, you always burn them."

"Funny. What is this room?" he asked.

"I don't know. But from the looks of it, it must had been a hiding place. In these types of castles, families always hid special objects and jewels in secret rooms. But this one looks completely empty."

Flint held the torch for Lady Jaye to lead her out of the room. "How did you find me?" she asked him.

"Alpine came running, screaming that you disappeared. So, we backtracked where you were, and I found the hidden switch. So glad that I did." His arm circled her shoulders.

"Me too." She gave him a big smile, and their lips gently found each other.

Alpine coughed. His eyes scanned the ground, giving them some privacy. "What's this?" he thought, picking up a small green stone. "This will look great in my rock collection!" He put the stone in his front pocket.

"Did you find anything, Flint?" Lady Jaye asked the warrant officer, stepping out of the hidden room.

He shook his head, "Only dirt, lot and lots of dirt. Duke is not going to be a happy man when he reads my report."

"Can we get out of here?" Alpine pleaded. He had followed the other two Joes back into the dark hallway. The wall began slide, closing, and almost crushed his leg.

Flint nodded. "Let me call Scarlett on the--" But his words were cut off.

"YEEEAHHH!" A very loud shriek came from down the hallway from the large room. Within moments, Shipwreck came hurrying towards them, his expression filled with terror and pure white.

Scarlett's voice echoed from down the dark hallway, "Shipwreck!"

The warrant officer had barely time to step aside as Shipwreck smashed into him. "Now what did you do?" he growled towards the sailor.

Shipwreck's eyes were larger than any of them had seen before, his features showing only terror. "Ahee.. Ahee ..Ahee." was the only sound coming from his throat. His hand slowly rose, shaking and pointed down the pitch-black hall.

Scarlett finally caught up with him. "Will you please explain _what_ happened back there?"

"Ghh..Ghh..Ghost." his voice shook.

"WHAT!" Alpine said louder than he intended. "Oh, this story I have to hear!" He crossed his arms and leaned against the stone wall.

Shipwreck began to explain that when he and Scarlett split up, he found himself in a room and saw a candle holder floating on its own.

As the sailor continued on word by word of his haunting experience, a sound behind them caught Lady Jaye's attention. She turned around, her eyes searching for any movement. Taking a few steps down the dark hall, her breath froze.

There, standing a few feet away from her was a long red-haired lady, wearing an dark green gown, a gold belt on her waist and a long black cloak covering most of her body. Her dark green eyes stared directly into Lady Jaye's before she vanished in a blink of an eye.

"Jaye?" Scarlett's hand gently touched her shoulder. "You alright?" her voice was full of concern.

Shaking the illusion out of her head, she turned to her friend. "I'm fine."

Scarlett nodded, "Ok. Flint just called Duke, we're going back to Headquarters."

Lady Jaye looked down once more at the darkness, searching, but saw nothing. She turned and saw Flint waiting for her. She smiled towards him while he took his hand into his, and together they followed the rest of the G.I. JOEs .


	4. Chapter 4

The Sky Strikers touched down on the runway at the Headquarters of the elite team known to the world as G.I.JOE.

Duke watched the planes roll into the hangar, checking on all the pilots, and not that he was there for a certain redhead. No, that wasn't the case, well, maybe a little, and judging from the look she sent him while climbing out of her Striker, she wasn't pleased. Which meant a certain sailor had once again screwed up. His throat gave a small growl, shaking his head back and froth in frustration.

"Debriefing room, on the double!" His voice filled with authority. And judging from his own voice, he knew that it did not sound pleased. The Joes gulped while walking closer to where he stood.

"I guess you got a call," Flint stated, stopping only inches from his commanding officer.

"What gave it away?"

"That pulsing nerve on your forehead," came the answer.

The group started heading towards the main building, barely talking to one another, all in their own private thoughts, wondering who was going to be chewed and dissected first from the dark shadows on the Joe leader's features.

"I knew I should have written my will," Alpine whispered to Shipwreck, his eyes glued to the field commander, who walked in the front, next to the counterintelligence agent.

"Nah, what's Duke going to do? Fire us out of the cannon?" Shipwreck asked, his voice amused.

"Knowing our leader, he probably will do that, Shipwreck," Alpine stated seriously, his eyes catching another menacing look from the field commander.

"Quiet!" came from the second in command. "Unless you want P.T. with Beach Head for the next week at 0400 hours!"

"No thanks, Flint," Alpine shook his head, waving his hands back and forth.

"Unless you have us take P.T. at the beach, along with these two doll faces," Shipwreck wished.

"In your dreams, sailor," Lady Jaye replied, not bothering to even look back towards Shipwreck's gleeful face, picturing the four of them at the beach in his head.

"You mean in his nightmares," Flint mumbled beside her, sending his own menacing look at the other two Joes behind them for even imagining the scene.

"I'm going to get a shovel and just bury him," Scarlett grumbled, ignoring the smirk on the field commander's face while they entered the main offices area of the building and walked in the debriefing room.

"Alright, sit." Duke pointed to the chairs, watching them start to shiver, and he knew it wasn't from the air conditioner.

They slowly took their seats, their eyes never leaving their commanding officer's. Flint bravely took a seat closest to the field commander. Lady Jaye sat directly next to him, while Scarlett sat next to her and Alpine with Shipwreck taking the farthest seats from the Joe leader.

Duke paced in front of the room, glaring at them, his eyes filled with a dark fiery blaze, his nostrils flaring with each breath and his mouth in a tight thin line. He suddenly stopped and pounded his fist on the table, causing everyone to sit straighter in their chairs, and exchange similar conclusions. The first sergeant was not pleased at all, and they all knew it!

"Care to explain to me why the bloody blue blazes I received a call from the Scottish government because of certain damages to a ten century old weapon room? Bedroom? And not to mention a pile of armor in the castle's upper corridor?" He asked, his voice filled with displeasure. "I want answers and I want them NOW!"

Everyone's eyes now glanced over to a now very nervous looking sailor.

Shipwreck gulped, and pulled his collar away from his neck. "Ehh-- that--well--it wasn't my fault, Duke. I--"

"What happened?" Duke interrupted him, placing both his hands on the table and staring towards the shivering sailor.

"I..I… don't know. It just came from nowhere."

"What did?"

"The knight."

"What knight?" Duke asked, staring right into Shipwreck's eyes.

"Shipwreck 'thinks' the suit of armor crashed into him instead of the other way around," Scarlett explained, glancing over towards her partner.

"But Scarlett! It did!" Shipwreck defended himself.

"Shipwreck, it didn't," Scarlett retorted.

"But it did!" Shipwreck protested.

"It didn't," Scarlett replied annoyed.

"Enough!" Duke ordered, glaring from the one teammate to the other.

"You mean the Black Knight crashed into you?" Alpine asked amazed.

"Black Knight?" Duke asked confused.

"He was from that Scooby Doo episode we watched last week," Alpine explained.

The first sergeant's eyes widened. "You're telling me that Shipwreck was attacked by a cartoon character?"

Both Alpine and Shipwreck slowly nodded.

Duke blinked. "Scarlett, what did _you _see?" He asked, "Did Shipwreck get attacked by Scooby Doo-- I mean the Black Knight?"

"I didn't see the whole thing, Duke," Scarlett answered truthfully. Sending a scowl towards the sailor, who gulped. "I was on surveillance in the front when I heard the crash behind me."

Duke nodded. "The armor room?"

Flint glanced towards the counterintelligence agent and sailor. "That was Ghost Delgado and Ghost O'Hara."

"Come again?" Duke asked confused with an arch brow, then held up his hand to silence them. "On second thought, I don't want to know."

"And you really don't want to know about the eerie ghost cry either," Alpine added.

Duke blinked again. "Ghost cry?" he asked, "Do I even want to know?"

No one answered his questions, staying silently in their seats, glancing around, not even making eye contact with the first sergeant.

"Did you find out why our snake friends were visiting the castle?" Duke asked, crossing his arms, staring from one member to the other.

Flint gulped. "Umm… not exactly," he answered, "They high tailed it out of there before we could uncover the reason."

Duke rolled his eyes. "Please don't tell me a banshee chased them away." He was clearly not amused from the warrant officer's answer.

"Alright," Alpine said, "We won't tell you."

Duke shot him an unpleasant scowl, making the mountain climber really shiver in his chair.

"And don't forget the part where Jaye vanished," Shipwreck reminded them. "And where Alpine ran in the room with the shovels screaming at the top of his lungs, 'The ghost got Jaye!' ''

"Thanks, Ship," Alpine grumbled, his cheeks rosy from embarrassment.

Lady Jaye stayed silent, all eyes in the room turning towards her. She had not informed the others about her exploration in the hidden tunnel. "I only uncovered a secret bedchamber, opened by a hidden switch, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary that would interest Cobra."

"So let me get this straight. So far we have walking armor, ghost theater, eerie cries, and hidden rooms, revealed by a switch." Duke reviewed.

They all nodded.

"And no idea of why Cobra was there in the first place!"

They all nodded again.

Duke placed a hand on his forehead. "This is starting to sound like a---"

"Scooby Doo episode," Alpine pointed out, finishing the first sergeant's conclusion.

"But whatever Cobra was searching, we can clearly say that they didn't find it," Scarlett pointed out.

"And I hope they don't find what they were searching for," Flint stated.

"I second that," Scarlett agreed with the warrant officer.

Duke once again began pacing in front of the room, deep in his thoughts, trying to make sense from what he was just informed, and couldn't. He shook his head, stopped and looked at the men and women in front of him. "All right, dismissed. I expect your reports tomorrow at 1000 hours," he ordered, then added, "And if I read one mentioning of Scooby Doo, you'll all have Scooby Doo episodes with Beach Head!"

They all nodded, and stood up, heading out of the debriefing room.

"Scarlett, can I see you for a moment," Duke said, now holding the door for the others, but instantly closed it shut before the other four could hear anything else.

"Maybe Scarlett should had written her will too," Alpine mumbled, trying to listen in on the conversation inside the room.

Flint shook his head, placed an arm over Lady Jaye's shoulders and headed towards the Mess.

"We need more women around here," Shipwreck stated, crossing his arms, while shaking his head, watching the two lovebirds steal a kiss down the hall.

"For once I agree with you." Alpine nodded, watching the couple, then gulped from the warrant officer's glare when he noticed them staring.

They turned and headed towards the barracks, each taking their separate ways. Alpine watched Shipwreck head towards his suite but passed it and knocked on another door, knowing that behind it concealed a poker game. He shook his head, took out his passkey, and opened the door to the suite he shared with Bazooka.

"Back," Alpine announced, walking inside the small suite.

Bazooka looked up from the Superman comic book. "Front!"

Alpine headed towards the back of the room, placing his gear on the floor, and took out the green stone from his pocket, then placed it on a shelf which held his rock collection. He took a step backwards admiring the collection, each rock collected from various missions.

Bazooka stood up from the couch and walked over, spotting the new addition. "Pretty."

"Yeah," Alpine turned to his best friend. "Be careful, this one could be valuable."

"How much?"

"Probably give or take around ten dollars," came the answer.

"Wow!" Bazooka said impressed. "How you find it?"

"I'll tell you all about it, after I hit the showers," Alpine said, heading for the bathroom.

"OK!" Bazooka replied nodding excitedly. He went back to the couch, picked up his comic book and resumed reading, though he just looked at the pictures mostly, and not the words themselves. His eyes widened, spotting a similar looking green stone in the pages of the comic book, then flipped the page over and his mouth hung, discovering the green stone called Kryptonite almost killing the hero. He placed the comic book lower, then glanced towards the green stone. "Oh no! Maybe Alpine found Kryptonite!"

He stood up from the couch, walked over to the shelf, and picked up the green stone in his hand. "Sci Fi will know for sure!" he said, placing the stone in his pant's pocket, and left the suite.


	5. Chapter 5

With Alpine's stone in his pocket, Bazooka whistled all the way to Sci Fi's quarters and knocked on the door. He glanced around, smiling at the Joes walking by, which all returned his greeting. Waiting for Sci Fi to answer, he continued whistling the theme to _Transformers._ He listened for any indication of Sci Fi inside his suite by pressing his ear against the door but heard only the silence.

"Guess he's not home," he mumbled disappointed. He wanted to show him the Kryptonite and wanted for Sci Fi to examine the stone, to be certain it was indeed Kryptonite—then he was going to destroy it. He thought hard how he was going to accomplish the task and he decided the best way was to take his baseball bat and hit the Kryptonite until it turned to dust. Then he would take the dust, put it in an envelope and sent it to—well, he didn't know who exactly yet. Maybe he would ask Alpine.

"Sci Fi?" Bazooka called out and this time knocked on the door, slightly harder. The door creaked, wiggled and then fell toward the floor with a loud thud.

Bazooka looked down at the door. "Wow."

"What in Grayskull?" Sci Fi came rushing out of his bedroom, still in his Joe uniform, minus his mask. "How did that happen?" he asked, looking down at the door.

"Termites," Bazooka shrugged, scratching his head.

Sci Fi glanced up, his hazel eyes showing only surprise. "Bazooka, no termite can do that!" He pointed to the door.

"Okay, big termites," Bazooka added, taking a step onto the door, walking over and into laser trooper's suite. "Want to see what I got?"

The other Joe looked from the door to Bazooka's excited childlike expression. "Did you get the newest comic book in the X-men series?" he asked eagerly.

"No, better!" Bazooka walked over to the table and turned around to face the science fiction fanatic.

"What?" Sci Fi asked, now getting more intrigued. "It's not the signed copy, is it?"

"No, better!" Bazooka started rolling on his feet, back and forth, swaying with anticipation. His dark brown eyes sparkled and his grin could not open wider enough. He felt giddy, like a child in the candy shop for the first time.

"Okay, I give up, tell me!" Sci Fi walked over to the baseball card collector.

Bazooka looked around as if someone could've been spying on them. He grabbed Sci Fi by the arms and even looked behind the man just to be sure. Leaning as close as he could, his mustache inches from the other man's ear, he whispered, "Kryptonite."

"Kryptonite!" Sci Fi replied in a loud voice.

"Shh!" Bazooka motioned him to be silent. "He will hear you!"

"Who?"

"Superman! He'll know we have Kryptonite!"

"Bazooka," Sci Fi started to explain, resting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Trust me, Superman will not hear us. Now tell me what's all this about with Kryptonite?"

"I have some in my pocket," Bazooka whispered, still making sure that no one else could listen. He kept glancing around Sci Fi's room, nervously.

"You have Kryptonite in your pocket!" Sci Fi said bewildered, his eyes widening.

"Yep!" Bazooka stated proudly. He patted his pant's pocket with his hand. "Oh no!"

"What?" Sci Fi asked, now turning alarmed. Had his friend lost it for sure? Maybe he should call Alpine, not to mention Psyche Out too!

"I—I lost it!" Bazooka answered solemnly. "It was in my pocket!"

"Bazooka, calm down, just look in your pocket first," Sci Fi stated, trying to keep him from panicking.

Bazooka slowly nodded with a grim face. From the corner of his mouth, his tongue poked out while he inserted his hand in his pocket, reaching all the way to the bottom. He started pulling out the contents of his pocket and placed them on the table. A few crumbled baseball cards, five packets of Yo Joe gum, a plastic fork, a yellow yo-yo and seven paperclips lay on the table, before he reached in and pulled out a few more odd and ends, placing those next to his other treasures.

"You have a grenade pin in your pocket?" asked Sci Fi, picking up the pin itself and studying it closely with amazement in his eyes.

"Yeah, don't you?" Bazooka asked casually.

Sci Fi shook his head. "Why you have one? One second thought, forget I asked."

"Okay." Bazooka looked around and then to the items on the table. "What was I looking for again?" He scratched his head, thinking, hard.

"The Kyptonite," Sci Fi patiently reminded him.

"Oh yeah!" Bazooka once again reached into his pocket, but this time came out empty handed. "No Superman killer."

Sci Fi looked down at the items. He frowned. "Well, you put it in your pocket, right?"

"Right," Bazooka answered, then suddenly his eyes widened. "No!"

"No, you didn't put it in your pocket?"

Bazooka nodded. "I did. I put it in my left pocket!"

The other Joe smacked his forehead, shaking his head, not surprised as the missile specialist reached into his left pocket and pulled out a green stone.

"See! Look!" Bazooka stated proudly, placing down the green stone on the table for his friend to examine.

Sci Fi blinked, still in amazement. "Is that it?"

"I think so. It's green. Shiny. Alpine found it."

"Well, I'll—" Sci Fi went to reach for the stone when the deafening sound of a loud explosion rocked the building, sending them both down to the floor.

The alarm echoed throughout the G.I.Joe base, its high pitch sound alerting all members of a Cobra attack.

"Snakes!" Sci Fi sprung to his feet, wasting no time and rushed out of the suite, leaving Bazooka behind.

Left alone, Bazooka looked around in a panic. "Oh no! They know about the Kryptonite!" He grabbed the stone, placed it back in his pocket and ran out of the suite, his heart thumping mad in his chest. He couldn't let the Cobras get the stone! Superman depended on him! He was not going to fail his favorite hero! No way, he was going to let that happen!

He raced toward the Sky Strikers, his feet flying beneath him, and his muscles tensing up in adrenaline which pumped in his veins. His face set, hard, ready for action and his army hard hat flying off his head. His hair flew around by the breeze.

"Hey!"

"Watch it!"

"Woah!"

"Get those Strikers in the air!"

The cries of Greenshirts and several other Joes raced to his ears. He halted in front of the hangars and turned, spotting Duke in front of the Motor Pool, several hundred feet away. He'd heard the first sergeant's command for the planes.

"Where's Duke?" came from his left, making him turn and spot Ace, nearing the hangars. "We need to get the planes up in the air!"

"Busy," Bazooka answered. "He ordered the Strikers in the air!"

Ace blinked. "I didn't hear that."

"I did! Move!" Bazooka ordered. He spotted Ripcord, Mutt and Wild Bill right behind Ace. "Ace, take your squadron, head the Cobra off, go round the mine field. Wild Bill, take your Dragon Fly group, attack from the rear and Ripcord, use the Tomahawks, follow the Strikers!"

They all blinked at him, their eyes wide and mouth agape in surprise.

"Did he just do a battle strategy?" asked a bewildered Wild Bill.

"Am I hearing right?" Ripcord asked, glancing around, in confusion.

"Maybe he's a synthoid?" suggested Ace.

Bazooka grumbled under his breath. "Move it now or I'll have you facing Beach Head's obstacle course in the morning!"

Another set of explosions rocked the ground and the Joes needed no further commands. They raced towards the planes and another voice filled the air, this one belonging to the field commander.

"Ace, head in with the Strikers, Ripcord, back him up with the Tomahawks, Wild Bill, bring the Dragon Flys from the rear. Move!" Duke commanded.

"All ready on it, Duke!" Ace replied, racing to his plane, jumping in and starting the engine. In moments, his plane was rolling out of the hanger, passing both Duke and Bazooka and lifting into the air, heading for battle.

Wild Bill and Ripcord both nodded, saluted and raced to their aircraft.

Cobra Rattlers flew above their head and they watched them head toward the barracks.

"Blast!" Duke growled, starting to run at top speed towards the barracks.

"Bazooka!"

Bazooka turned to see Alpine heading his way. "Alpine!"

"Get in your Striker!" Alpine ordered, running towards his own.

"We need to head off Cobra before they obliterate this entire base," Bazooka stated, rushing to his Striker, passing Alpine and jumping in the pilot's seat.

Alpine halted for a moment, blinked in surprise, shook his head before he climbed in his Striker.

Both Strikers rolled out of the hangars, ready to enter the battle. From above their heads the sky had turned dark, dominated with black smoke.

Bazooka followed Alpine's lead, as always, pushed the lever forward to accelerate the speed of the aircraft and readied himself to fly the plane into battle. He watched Alpine's plane in front, lift off the ground and to the smoked filled air. His Striker though remained on the ground, its wheels still on the pavement.

"What the—?" Bazooka asked, glancing around confused, and spotted the other Strikers airborne, but his own craft remained grounded. He frowned, pushing buttons, increasing the speed of the Striker, but it did not ascend in the air.

He was running out of airstrip! Making up his mind, he pushed the lever forward to full speed. Red lights blinked on and off, warning him that the craft exceeded the weight capacity, unable to fly!

"Weird!" Bazooka exclaimed, pulling back on the lever, causing the Striker to halt, inches away from the end of the airstrip. An explosion came from his right and he turned to spot several Cobra Rattlers fighting with Sky Strikers.

"Bazooka, what's wrong down there?" Alpine's voice came from the radio.

"Striker won't fly," he replied, opening the cockpit, ready to exit the plane.

"What do you mean, it won't fly? All Strikers can fly!"

"Well, you tell that to Mary Jane, she won't fly!" Bazooka repeated.

From the radio, Ace's panicked voice cried out, "Duke! The front barracks are about to crumble! There's three Joes trapped by Cobra B.A.T.s!".

Bazooka didn't waste time, he jumped out of his plane, running at full speed toward the barracks. He could feel his feet fly underneath him and in seconds he was right near the barracks. He halted, turned, scratched his head in bewilderment and glanced back to the hangars, which were halfway across the base!

Several Greenshirts blinked at him, their faces in deep surprise.

"Did you _see_ that?" one of the Greenshirts whispered, still looking straight at Bazooka.

The other Greenshirt numbly nodded. "Yeah, it's like he came out of _thin _air!"

"Fire!"

Bazooka heard the command and he glanced about it, trying to pin point the location.

"Scarlett! We're outnumbered!" came from Gung Ho.

"Red, there's too many of them!" came from Shipwreck.

"Keep firing!" Scarlett ordered, her voice filled with fire.

Bazooka turned around, gunfire racing past his ear, yet, no bullet passed near him. He spotted a cement wall to his left. "I wish I could see what was going on!" he muttered. Then his wish came true as on the cement wall, a small oval hole appeared and he caught sight of Scarlett, Gung Ho and Shipwreck —all fighting for their lives. The B.A.T.s, Cobras robotic troops had pinned them against the other side of the wall. The image then disappeared, and once again the wall became whole.

He blinked, anger rushed through his veins and he found himself charging around the building toward the B.A.T.s. With a swift move, he charged at the Cobra B.A.T.s, single-handedly.

"Stay away from my friends!" he growled, grabbing one of the robots and flung it against the other ten, destroying them instantly.

"What the devil?" Scarlett blinked in bewilderment, her eyes drawn to the missile specialist who continued to demolish the rest of the B.A.T's by only using his hands.

Bazooka let out another growl as he grabbed two B.A.T.s and shoved their heads together, crushing one against the other before they fell to the ground with a clunk.

"Well, someone is eating his spinach!" Shipwreck commented, his own face showing his surprise.

The B.A.T.'s mangled, Bazooka turned to his friends, finding them unscathed and safe.

A voice shouted in the radio, "Ace look out! You have a Cobra Rattler on your tail!"

Bazooka looked to the sky, spotting the Sky Striker fleeing away from the Cobra Rattler and his heart raced. Something took over his entire body and he knew that he had to save his friend! There was no other choice. He started running again, ignoring the awed comments coming from his comrades. His feet once again flew underneath him, faster, harder, until he no longer felt the ground and he found himself nearing the Rattler. His thoughts set hard, determined to keep Ace safe from Cobra's clutches.

The Cobra Rattler continued to chase the Joe Striker, the pilot's face in full concentration but when he turned to the window, the Cobra pilot's eyes widened.

"Stay away from my friend!" Bazooka shouted at the enemy pilot.

"AGHHH!" the Cobra soldier screamed and twisted the plane away, flying away from Bazooka and the Joe base.

"And stay away!" Bazooka shouted at the ever-growing smaller blue dot, shaking his fist in the air. He huffed, turned and glanced around, finally let reality hit him like a cement wall. "Holy Cow!"

He glanced down, all around him, seeing the ground hundreds of feet below him and he looked up, finding nothing but dark clouds above him and then he twirled around, feeling only the air around him. "Wow!"

Cobra Rattlers passed him, some twisting in mid air as if the pilots lost control. Then the blue planes turned around and started fleeing, following the first Cobra Rattler.

Bazooka watched the Cobras retreat, watched the Sky Strikers chase the rest of the enemy away and watched the ground troops stopping their vehicles, hands in the air, cheering for winning the battle. He smiled and let out his own cheer. With his arms in straight out in front of him, he started to descend down toward the ground, near the team.

"What's that?" he heard Flint ask the field commander.

"Is it a bird?" came from Cover Girl, her hand above her eyes.

"Is it a Sky Striker?" came from Clutch, sitting on Cover Girl's Wolverine.

"No! It's Bazooka flying!" Duke's amazed announcement sent a ripple of mummers around the rest of the troops.

Bazooka could feel the excitement dominating his body. He was flying! He smiled down at them all, but his smile vanished, discovering that he could not stop. "Help!" he cried out, covering his eyes with both hands and waited for the crash. It came! Several moans flew to his ears and he felt his entire body twist around before it stopped abruptly.

"Are you all right?" came several voices from both his left and right.

He let out a moan, opened his eyes and his hand went to his head, finding a lump. "No. Got headache."

"Bazooka, can you tell me what the bloody blue blazes just happened?" Duke asked, his blue eyes only inches from the missile specialist.

Bazooka's eyes widened in surprise, realizing he had fallen on top of the field commander! He slowly rose to his feet. "I...uhh… forgot." He scratched his head again, shaking it, not knowing what fully had occurred. He glanced around, spotting a few more Joes racing towards them.

"Duke, you all right?" Scarlett knelt next to the field commander, her eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah, if you can call a broken head all right," Duke replied, shaking his head slowly. He turned to ask Bazooka one more time but saw the man walk away, his head lowered and with Alpine's arm around his shoulders.

Scarlett frowned. Her keen eye caught a shimmering object on the ground next to Duke. _"What's this?"_ she thought, reaching and taking hold of a green stone.

"Briefing room, on the double!" Duke barked at the Joes, now on his feet. "We need to make sense of this Cobra attack!"

While other Joes started to follow the Joe leader, Scarlett glanced down at the stone, her mind fighting to recall where she had seen a similar looking stone, but it failed her. A small black creature crawled on her yellow glove and she sharply inhaled. She cringed, shook her hand profusely, flung the spider off and smothered it with her boot, killing the creature instantly.

"Scarlett?" Duke called out to her. He had stopped and waited.

"Coming, Duke." Scarlett placed the green stone in her pocket and rose to her feet, following the rest of the team.


End file.
